The invention relates to a vehicle electrical system configuration system for the automatic configuration of vehicle electrical systems, which comprise hardware components at least partially connected to a data bus network and software components implemented in at least a portion of the hardware components for the execution of corresponding functionalities. The term hardware components, as used in this context, refers to all the various control devices (frequently abbreviated as ECU), including corresponding parts and peripheral equipment, such as line connections, data buses, connections, sensors, and actuators. Each software component that fulfills a corresponding functionality can be implemented in one, or distributed in several, of the hardware components.
Systems for the automatic configuration of vehicle electrical systems should support the structure of the system, in that they determine the most optimal system configuration possible within the context of existing options and marginal conditions established with respect to set criteria, preferably by means of a knowledge-based method in which all knowledge relevant to configuration is stored in a corresponding Knowledge Base database. Such systems have, for example, been proposed for the configuration of PC systems and telephone systems. With regard to the latter, see the publication by Uellner et al., titled “Customer-Specific Configuration of Telecommunications Systems—The KIKon Project,” Deutsche Telekom A G, Darmstadt Technology Center. Information on the general principles of knowledge-based configuration can be found, for example, in the publication by A. Günter (publisher), titled “Knowledge-Based Configuration—Results of the PROKON Project,” Infix Publishing, St. Augustin 1995.
The electrical/electronic component, i.e., the portion of electrical and electronic components, which constitute the vehicle's electrical system, is constantly increasing in modern motor vehicles. The wide variety of vehicle electrical systems, which is the simplified term used here in referring to the totality of electrical and electronic components, is due to such factors as different vehicle manufacturers, different operating requirements in different countries, as well as different models and equipment options from the same manufacturer. Consequently, there is a need for a vehicle electrical system configuration with which a vehicle electrical system can be configured, essentially independently, according to a customer's needs, within the scope of existing conditions, and at the highest possible degree of automation. With the system, the current configuration, i.e., the actual configuration, can be obtained and displayed as effectively as possible for the benefit of, for example, service personnel. There is also a need for the ability to reconfigure the respective actual configuration, in the event of the replacement of system components or the addition of new components for new functionalities, in as non-contradictory and independent a manner as possible.
The basic elements of a vehicle electrical system configuration system are described in the publication by I. Kreuz et al., titled “Intelligent Configuring System, Proceedings of the 31st ISATA, Automotive Electronics and New Products,” Düsseldorf, Germany, Jun. 2–5, 1998. The configuration process chain described therein contains a set of possible configurations specified on the development end and a set of permissible configurations derived from the first set after having factored in limiting marketing strategies, from which, depending on a customer's needs, a requested configuration can be obtained and can then be used at the production end to determine a final, actual configuration. All specified configurations are stored in an accessible manner in a database functioning as a central knowledge base. The information on the actual configuration helps the service personnel determine the components, a term used here to describe both hardware and software components, of which a given vehicle electrical system consists. It can also be used to generate individual documentation on the respective actual configuration for service personnel and for purposes of assembling an individual handbook.
A vehicle electrical system configuration system is known from German patent specification DE 43 15 494 C1. It comprises a vehicle configuration memory located in a central control device, from which memory data are transmitted by the central control device to control devices for purposes of resident or quasi-resident storage therein, so that a newly-installed control device can be programmed accordingly. The vehicle configuration memory can comprise a programmable ROM, such as a FLASHPROM, so as to permanently store the configuration data by conventional means.
The invention's underlying technical problem is to provide a vehicle electrical system configuration system of the type described initially, with which it is possible to continuously obtain, in a relatively uncomplicated manner, an overview of the respective actual configurations and/or to configure a vehicle electrical system, which meets customer-specific requirements, in a user-friendly manner and using a high degree of automation.
The invention solves this problem by providing a novel vehicle electrical system configuration system in accordance with the present invention.
The configuration system according to preferred embodiments of the invention contains a central actual configuration data memory arranged in the vehicle. The actual configuration data set that characterizes the actual configuration is centrally filed therein, so that, by connecting a data-polling component, an overview of the entire current configuration of the vehicle electrical system can be obtained without the need, for example, to access a database maintained by the vehicle manufacturer or various memory components contained in the various hardware components of the vehicle, which only contain data on the respective corresponding hardware component. The actual configuration memory has a direct or indirect communication connection to all installed hardware components, thereby providing a condition for the fact that the actual configuration data stored therein can be compared and/or coordinated with the true actual configuration relatively easily, such as in the case of an unintentional loss of data in the actual configuration data memory. Knowledge of the exact actual configuration is especially useful for servicing and diagnosing the vehicle electrical system, replacing and repairing individual components, determining current values, especially in used vehicles, and assembling individual handbooks for specific vehicles. The storage of actual configuration data in a central location provides a high degree of availability and ensures that data can be updated with relative ease.
In the configuration system according to one embodiment of the invention, the XML file format is used for storage of the actual configuration data in the actual configuration memory. In addition, data on the chosen structure and/or grammar of this file format are stored in a corresponding document type definition file. This makes the actual configuration memory “self-describing,” in the sense that the actual configuration data stored therein can still be accessed and displayed after an extended period of time, even if, for example, a browser external to the vehicle originally used to display the display is no longer available.
The configuration system according to another embodiment of the invention contains browser tools with which, depending on the system design, the actual configuration data can be reproduced in a tree structure depiction, a functional depiction, and/or a topology depiction, as well as optionally in one or more other depiction modes, thus providing various ways to view the actual configuration.
In a further embodiment of this configuration system, according to the invention, the actual configuration memory comprises a flash memory component of the control device component of the vehicle electrical system. This special control device component functions simultaneously as a gateway between the vehicle electrical system and a system external to the vehicle, which can, for example, contain browser tools to display the entire Actual Configuration or portions thereof in image form.
The vehicle electrical system configuration system according to the invention characteristically contains a topology configuration system component, a hardware component configuration system component, a vehicle configuration system component, as well as a graphic user/system interface for optional activation of the respective system component and for menu-directed user control while each respective system component is active. Data on the types of usable hardware components and their data network connections can be entered into the configuration system through the topology configuration system component. Approved hardware and software modules and/or elements can be selected and/or newly developed during the development phase using the hardware component configuration system component. When the vehicle configuration system component is activated, the system triggers an essentially or entirely automatic configuration of an optimal vehicle electrical system for the vehicle desired by a customer on the basis of relevant target specifications provided by the customer while using the information provided by the topology configuration system component and the hardware component configuration system component. A conventional “configuration machine” of the type that is already used for configuration of other electrical systems can be used effectively here.
In a system augmented according to the invention, reconfiguration tools are provided with which computer-assisted automatic reconfiguration of a respective vehicle electrical system can be performed if a hardware or software component is replaced with a more recent model which, however, includes at least the functionality of the replaced component. This type of reconfiguration is also possible in conjunction with the addition of a functionality that was previously not part of the vehicle system.
In a configuration system augmented according to the invention, knowledge-aging tools are provided that assign a degree of currentness to the stored configuration data dependent on their age and configuration usage frequency, and remove configuration data from the valid configuration data set if their degree of currentness falls below a specifiable threshold value. In addition to or instead of this measure, the assignment of a degree of currentness to reconfiguration tools, if present, can be used, whenever several possible competing components, configuration strategies, and/or component relationships are under consideration, to always use that with the highest degree of currentness first and only to fall back on those with a lower degree of currentness in case of conflict.